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A journey to Bali sounds like a dream trip: seeing the famous Blue Lagoon, checking out beautiful coral reefs, or taking a leisurely cruise down a river. But for Long Beach Classroom TA member Megan Grahlfs, what she saw on an education trip to the Indonesian island spurred her to action both in and out of the classroom.

“I saw someone get attacked, and it was very violent out of nowhere, and I knew someone needed to do something,” Catania said during a press conference hosted by the New York City Mayor’s Office on Dec. 27. "So, I just tried to do my best, tried to intervene and stop any more violence."

Pull into the Maple Hill High School parking lot in Rensselaer County just outside Albany, and you’ll see a bright blue box at the edge of the sidewalk. Standing about five feet high on a rough-hewn base of two by fours, the glass front box brings to mind a bird house or a telephone booth.

“I saw someone get attacked, and it was very violent out of nowhere, and I knew someone needed to do something,” Catania said during a press conference hosted by the New York City Mayor’s Office on Dec. 27. "So, I just tried to do my best, tried to intervene and stop any more violence."

Anastasia Difino teaches fifth-grade English and social studies at PS 120 in Queens, the same district where she grew up, and she is helping another generation of immigrants find their footing in a new country through the “Civics for All” curriculum she recently helped pilot for the NYC Department of Education.

Since retiring, Rick Keller-Coffey has devoted his time working for the betterment — and protection — of children. He serves as a community education facilitator for the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

A retired member of United Teachers of Northport, Peter White has led students and teachers to this Central American country set between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, where they have brought about much change. He worked first as a teacher overseeing Students for 60,000, a club at Northport High School dedicated to supporting the needy near and far.

For 22 years, Yaroslav Yuz’vak has been at the wheel of the big yellow school bus, driving students around Ithaca with his big Ukrainian heart. Now, he’s another kind of conduit, helping to direct much-needed medical supplies, money and clothing collected by his community, local churches, and his union to help the war-ravaged people of Ukraine under attack by Russia. His people.

Puppy love is something Kings Park High School teacher Amy Tiu has experienced over and over – and over – again. Not because she keeps going through that teenage-wonder craze of first love, but because she’s in love with actual puppies: she’s on her 13th one.

“Having horses in my life meant a lot to me,” said Ilze Earner, a longtime CUNY Hunter College associate professor of social work who retired days ago. She's pictured here with Domino, a registered...